Orange CountyDrunk Driving Attorneys – DUI / DWI Lawyers

Orange County DUI attorney Myles L. Berman and his team of skilled drunk-driving defense lawyers, have extensive knowledge of California’s DUI, or DWI, laws. Because of his extensive experience on the topic of driving under the influence (also referred to as driving while intoxicated), Myles L. Berman is often called upon as an expert drunk-driving defense lawyer and he is often asked to share information with the public on DWI / DUI laws. Below is the transcript of the first section of an interview of Orange County DWI lawyer Myles L. Berman by the hosts of the Mark and Brian Show on 95.5 KLOS in Los Angeles. The hosts and our experienced drunk-driving attorney touch on many topics, including:

DJ: Welcome back again to the Mark and Brian radio show. Listen up folks, it is St. Patrick’s Day and this is the day well known for drinking. With us in the studio is Myles L. Berman. Now he has spoken on DUI defense for over ten years and is a founder of the National Drunk Driving Defense task force. Myles is considered to be one of the best DUI defense attorneys throughout Southern California. Welcome to the show.

Myles L. Berman: Thank you. Nice to be here.

CALIFORNIA DUI ARREST STATISTICS

With his team of Orange County drunk-driving defense attorneys, Myles L. Berman has handled numerous DUI cases in Southern California. Below our Orange County DUI defense attorney discusses the drop in drunk-driving arrests in the state and the validity of drunk-driving checkpoints.

DJ: A couple of facts that you might not know. There are nearly 200,000 DUI arrests made each year in California alone. My God… half of those are Lindsay Lohan but… (laughter).

Myles L. Berman: You know what’s interesting about that is that there used to be a lot more. Some years it was close to 300,000 and for some reason the numbers have gone down substantially. I thinks it’s in large part – and hats off to groups like mothers against drunk driving who have bought a lot of attention to this area and they have learned how to get the government to crack down big-time on those who drink and drive.

DJ: Would it be safe to say that this being St. Patrick’s Day that the cops will be out in full force tonight?

Myles L. Berman: Yes. Actually on my website at www.topgundui.com I have a page where people can – and police agencies send this in as well—Southern California DUI checkpoints and tonight there will be a tremendous amount of DUI checkpoints, which is where our practice is focused on. There is an interesting side note to the check points as well. They are often times funded by the government and federal government and other agencies as well. So there is a financial aspect to that as well and that is they have to justify the checkpoints by making stops and making arrests and investigating people because the have to keep getting funded. Often times the checkpoints… there are certain requirements the government and police agencies have to comply with and one of them is publicity, which is why I encourage people and police agencies to let us know where the checkpoints are because we’re fulfilling a civic duty in publicizing the checkpoints. They also have a huge deterrent effect. So their success causes them to often time get away from their requirements where they’re supposed to stop every fourth car or every third car, every fifth car and often time late at night stopping a lot of cars and often times violating their own protocol, which is one of the ways we can attack checkpoints in court.

VALIDITY OF BREATH TESTS IN DWI ARRESTS

Orange County DWI defense lawyer Myles L. Berman explains his issues with the breath testing used during DUI arrests. This skilled drunk-driving defense attorney outlines the potential discrepancies of these field sobriety tests.

DJ: Now let’s try to get the negative out of the way. Not that that’s possible but lets’ just do it. Myles–

Myles Berman: What negative could you possibly be talking about? (laughter)

DJ: Now these are people who decided to drive a vehicle drunk. They endangered innocent people’s lives. They don’t deserve to be defended.

Myles L. Berman: Well, first off you have to understand that most people that get arrested for DUI take a breath test. I believe based on my experience, based on my research, based on the science that I’ve investigated that breath testing is actually not that reliable. A perfect example: if you get somebody that’s pulled over for DUI and they blow a .14 or .16, two minutes apart, that sounds pretty bad when you first look at it. That’s almost twice the legal limit.

DJ: Yeah. That’s big.

Myles Berman: But scientifically a person doesn’t go from a .14 to a .16 in a matter of two or five minutes. It just doesn’t happen. And just to give you an example… you guys seem like you take care of yourselves. Each drink—so you have one glass of wine, one four ounce glass of wine, which is actually the most potent unless you have a straight shot. One four ounce glass of wine, one shot of hard proof liquor in a mixed drink, which is an ounce and a quarter of booze and one 12 ounce can of beer all equal the same amount—a .02. So you would have to have—I say you’re about 160 – 170?

DJ: I wish… let’s just say it’s there…

Myles L. Berman: Okay. So say you’re 170. It would take you approximately four drinks to get to a .08. Maybe a little more. Four to five drinks to get to a .08. And then of course that all has to be in your system at the time of the test. So now I’m getting back to the breath testing element that it’s not always reliable. As a matter of fact the police agencies use what’s called a portable breath test machine. Often times before arrest… and if you are a first time offender or an alleged first time offender and you’re older than 21 and they want you to blow into the portable breath test machine, you don’t have to. But the reality is that people blow into the portable breath test machine and they can end up with a .07 or a .08 and then an hour later, either another breath or a blood test they can end up being a .06 or a .14. So it’s all over the board. So getting back to—your question was, “how can we represent people who are accused of DUI?” Once you understand the science of it, it’s not what it appears to be. So, you know, we educate jurors on the reality of what I’ve said in the past is voodoo science.

MISTAKES OF A CALLER WITH TWO DRUNK-DRIVING ARRESTS

One listener called in to speak with Orange County DWI defense attorney Myles L. Berman about his recent DUI arrest. Our skilled drunk-driving defense lawyer listens to the details of the caller’s two recent arrests for driving under the influence and outlines the mistakes that the caller had made.

DJ: Alright, lets’ go to line two. We have Mark on the phone. He has a question for you. We’re speaking with Myles L. Berman. Go to the website www.topgundui.com. There is a phone number 888-4-TOPGUN. Mark you’re on the air with Myles L. Berman.

Mark: Hi Myles, how are you?

Myles Berman: Good Mark, how are you?

Mark: Not very good. I got two DUIs in January. Well actually the 29th of December and then the 22nd of January I was .50. They sent me to the hospital.

DJ: Jesus.

MylesBerman: Well, you know that’s one of the higher blood alcohol levels that I’ve seen. Was it a breath or a blood test?

Mark: It was a blood test.

MylesBerman: Okay. There are problems with blood as well but what I suggest you do is give my office a call. 888-4-TOPGUN and we will be able to talk to you a little more in detail. You’ve got some serious problems… you’re looking at losing your license. You’re looking at going to jail. Are you working?

Mark: Actually I lost my job because I was in the termite industry and it’s a driving thing. So I lost that. I’m not working right now. And my court case… well this is my second. My first one was on March 22 and they gave me a $1600 fine.

MylesBerman: Oh, you already pled guilty?

Mark: Yeah.

Myles L. Berman: Did you have a lawyer represent you?

Mark: No, I didn’t.

MylesBerman: Yeah that was your third mistake. Here’s the thing. In this day and age. Let’s talk about a first time offender. Somebody who is arrested for DUI, they can actually end up losing their job, their license, their freedom, their reputation and in reality they aren’t necessarily guilty. Just because somebody is arrested, which goes back to your original question. We don’t believe that just because somebody is arrested they’re automatically guilty. That’s why we say friends don’t let friends plead guilty. Because no matter what the crime is and there are some really heinous crimes out there. As an attorney it is my ethical obligation to uphold the constitution. Both the US and state of California. And everybody deserves an attorney. Not to say that my office would take any kind of case. We have a choice. But the fact of the matter is that in this country this is what our soldiers are fighting for. They’re fighting for our way of life and one of the pillars of the constitution is the right to a jury trial. The right to due process. The right to fairness and that fits squarely within the United States of America.

If you have been arrested for driving under the influence, the legal team headed by Top Gun DUI defense attorney Myles L. Berman can help you. Call 888-4-TOPGUN today to get the legal representation that you need.

WHO IS AT FAULT FOR DRINKING AND DRINKING

With the changes in drunk-driving laws, Orange County DUI lawyer Myles L. Berman discusses why there will continue to be a need for DWI defense attorneys in Southern California.

DJ: What about this guy that just called? Two in the month of January. One of those he was a .5

Myles L. Berman: Yeah, that’s pretty high. Most of the people that we represent are first time offenders. The overwhelming majority of people that get arrested for DUI are first time offenders. The law is in a state of flux though when it comes to—now he’s had two within a short period of time.

DJ: A month.

Myles L. Berman: Yeah. And I know that you want me to say that he has a problem and should seek treatment and maybe that’s a solution for him. But again, our role it to protect our clients in court. If you really want to stop something like this from happening, it’s the liquor industry that’s providing the tool for people to drink and drive. So unless there is prohibition, which I don’t expect to occur, there is going to be a difficulty with this particular issue.

DJ: Let me throw this in just to get your take on this. They’re talking about legalizing marijuana to help our economy. Would that make you even busier do you think?

Myles L. Berman: You know it may. Here’s an interesting side note about driving under the influence of drugs versus alcohol. When you get arrested for DUI alcohol, the officer takes your license. And then there is another DMV procedure. You have a 30 day suspension… your license is good for 30 days and then suspended unless you contest it an with he DMV hearing. But for drugs they don’t take your license. Now I don’t quite catch that but that’s the reality. DUI drugs, marijuana… other drugs… Prescription pills, by the way—just to change the subject a little bit. We represent people that are arrested for DUI drugs with prescription pills in their system. Often times they’re lawfully prescribed and they’re not impaired by the drugs. It’s just that they have them in their system. Getting back to the issue of marijuana. Yeah, there would probably be more arrests of people who are driving under the influence of marijuana but whether or not they convict is a different story. For example, marijuana stays in your system for quite some time. And just because it’s in your system doesn’t mean that it’s impairing your ability to drive at the time. More importantly, it doesn’t mean that the state can actually prove that someone is driving under the influence of marijuana. You know there is a lot of testing for driving with alcohol, because it’s legal. And you know cops get dosed up and they go to these courses and they drive. They do field sobriety tests, but with drugs, since they’re not legal there aren’t that many studies to show impairment between drugs and driving.

DJ: We’re with Myles L. Berman. He is a DUI attorney. When we come back we’re going to ask this question: “If you get arrested at two-o-clock in the morning, you can’t get an attorney. How should you conduct yourself while you’re incarcerated? What should you do and more importantly, what should you not do.

DJ: Do you have to get the cavity check? (Laughter)

Myles L. Berman: Depends on where you’re at (Laugher)

DJ: When we come back, we’ll get that question answered when we return with Myles L. Berman after this. It’s the Mark and Brian radio show 95.5 KLOS.